Hollandaise Sauce

We really enjoy eggs benedict, so I was pleased when I found a nice looking recipe for hollandaise sauce here. I was a little nervous about trying to make the sauce given my rudimentary culinary skills. My nervousness turned out to be well founded – my sauce was not a full scale disaster but it was certainly getting there.

Appearance-wise my sauce looked unappetising, with some separation of the ingredients and a less than optimal texture. And taste-wise it was substantially lacking. I have no doubt that this was all due to my limited abilities rather than the recipe though – as evidenced by the stunning-looking photos at the Pioneer Woman’s website. The problem is that I don’t know where I went wrong, so this recipe has moved into the “too difficult for my skills” box going forward. But it could be a great option for those of you who have a bit more talent in the kitchen department.

Ingredients:

225 g (2 sticks or 8 oz) of butter

3 egg yolks

1 lemon (juice only)

Cayenne pepper to taste

Recipe:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter until sizzling but don’t let it burn.

Place the egg yolks into a blender.

Turn the blender on low to allow the yolks to combine, then begin pouring the very hot butter in a thin stream into the blender. The blender should remain on the whole time, and you should be careful to pour in the butter very slowly.

Keep pouring the butter until it’s all gone, then immediately begin squeezing the lemon juice into the blender. Check the blender to make sure the sauce is still liquid and moving easily through the blades. If it’s not, add a little more juice and give it a stir, then blend again.

Add cayenne pepper to your taste (the original recipe calls for a generous shake).

Comments

I know this is a bit more work, but the result is well worth it. If you cook your egg yolks over a double boiler, whisking constantly, until they double in size, the result will be a creamy sauce. I used to make Hollandaise in a blender, but find this way is better! Don’t over cook though, remove from heat as soon as they’re roughly doubled, then continue as per normal by drizzling the butter. Enjoy!